Burgeoning Brotherhood
by Roslin Fan
Summary: Rusty and Ricky Skype some time after their visit...


Rusty logged onto Skype. It wasn't _too_ late. If it were, Ricky would probably have something to say about that too. Ricky's face materialized on the screen. He blinked once before grinning. "Hey, little brother."

"Big brother."

"You know, I never realized it before. I kind of like not being the 'baby' anymore."

"She doesn't baby me."

Ricky met his eyes pointedly, or as much was possible through the camera lens and screen. "Does too."

Rusty snorted. "Are we already at this point, man?"

Ricky laughed. "We're brothers, right? Emily and I argued like this all the time." He shook his head. "And then Mom would settle it. She never chose favorites, you know. Sometimes I was right, sometimes Em was, but Mom - Mom was always right."

"Oh, so it's not just me, then? I've never won an argument with her. Ever. And I'm supposed to, like, be a good chess player, or something."

Ricky grinned. "We're good, brother, but Mom's at a level all of her own. But back to our discussion. Didn't you tell me she burst into an apartment barefooted to save you?"

Rusty shrugged. "She's a cop. That's probably not the best example."

"She's a mom." Ricky ran his fingers through his hair. "What do you think of this? Better?"

His hair was much cleaner-cut. With his clean shave, he looked more like a professional than a computer geek now. Sharon would love it. "Much better, dude."

"Thanks. Um, we should probably…"

Rusty put up his hand. "We're family. Means we don't _have_ to apologize." Ricky nodded. "Plus," Rusty continued. "It's not really your fault."

"I should have known not to listen to my dad." Ricky shook his head. "I don't think he's ever told me the truth."

"I used to believe everything my mom said. Even after I knew she was a liar."

Ricky nodded. "And now?"

"Now I talk to your mom. Or Dr. Joe. Or the guys. They're always straight with me."

Ricky smiled. "Mom always was a straight shooter."

"Yeah."

"So are you and Mom gonna come visit soon? There's so much I want to show you."

"I'm game, but you know your mom."

Ricky snorted. "Tell me about it. She had to bail out on our Christmas vacation because of a Major Crimes case one year. And that was _before_ she was even part of that division."

Rusty's jaw dropped. "Dude. I didn't hear this one. What happened?"

Ricky explained how he and Emily had met at their grandparents' house and had made the best of the holidays together. Sharon had called and Skyped as much as she could, and when the case was finally over, she had joined them. It had been too late for Christmas, but at least she'd been able to celebrate New Years with them.

They compared notes on some other things. Like what was up with the "dinners" between Sharon and Andy. Ricky implied there was some history there, but he didn't say much. Probably didn't know much. It would be like Sharon to keep _that_ part of her life to herself. When Rusty asked how it felt, Ricky shrugged. "I'd be okay calling him 'Dad' if they ever..."

Rusty nodded. "Yeah, I think I would too. But I don't know, man, she seems to like being single."

"You think so?"

"Yeah. Here, she's in charge. Everything's how she wants it. You, Emily, me. The apartment. She's getting divorced." Rusty shrugged. "If it were me, I'd want to keep it like that. Why rush into something else? Everything that goes with it."

"Not very romantic, are you?"

Rusty shook his head. "Nah. I just...I've seen too much, you know?"

"And so has Mom." Ricky nodded. "It's weird. Of the three of us, you're the one who's the most like her."

"I don't know about that."

Ricky met his eyes. It was like he was staring into his soul. "I do." He broke eye contact a bit. "Well, I should get to bed."

"Yeah, what is it with you Raydors and early bedtimes?"

Ricky chuckled. "We're a family of early risers. Except Emily. Her ballet lifestyle, you know? The only time she ever woke up early was when she was training. And Christmas morning."

Rusty laughed. He'd had a much easier time connecting with his sister than his brother. Emily had her mother's looks and voice, so when they'd connected on Skype the first time, Rusty just started talking, like he would have with Sharon. It had been easy. And fun. He'd been adopted (although not officially yet) into a family with a sense of humor. And she'd had him in stitches pretty quickly. "Well, good night, Ricky."

Ricky's face disappeared when he'd logged off, and Rusty closed the program and closed his MacBook. "I know you're standing there, Sharon," he said without looking.

Sharon stepped into his room. "Sounds like you're getting along better."

"Yeah. And his hair's much better too."

Sharon laughed. "That's good."

"He really wants us to visit. Think you can get away?"

She tilted her head. "I'll do what I can, okay?"

He nodded. "Good night, Sharon."

She approached his bed and leaned to kiss his forehead. "Good night, honey."

She exited his room, closing his door behind her, tears of joy streaming down her face.


End file.
